We have updated our grid of candidate’s views to include the
news that yesterday, Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan, was appointed as
shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change by Jeremy
Corbyn.

In a shock political development in Australia, Malcolm
Turnbull beat Abbott by 54 votes to 44 in the hastily arranged
ballot for the leadership of the governing Liberal party. “The coup
follows months of poor opinion polls as Abbott’s reputation has
been damaged by unpopular budget cuts and a series of policy
U-turns,” said BusinessGreen. “The former prime minister has also
been a bete noire for green businesses and environmental
campaigners, voicing scepticism about climate change science and
rolling back a host of policies designed to deliver emissions cuts
across the Australian economy…In contrast, Turnbull has been
outspoken about his desire to address climate change, describing
Abbott’s climate change policy as ‘bullshit’ in an opinion article
written in 2009. In the article, Turnbull advocated for an
emissions trading scheme to raise the money needed to fund the
development of renewable energy, nuclear, and carbon capture and
storage technology.”

The Times reports that “scores of electricity pylons will be
removed from beauty spots at a cost of almost £11m each despite
plans being drawn up for more than 120 new ones in and around the
Lake District”. The four areas where pylons will be taken away are
within the New Forest national park, the Peak District, Snowdonia
and the Dorset area of outstanding natural beauty near Winterbourne
Abbas. The Telegraph says that a total of 45 pylons will be
removed, which “have blighted the landscapes for decades”. It adds:
“The work will be funded through levies on household electricity
bills for the next 40 years, costing an average household 22 pence
every year.” The

BusinessGreen reports on the announcement that Lisa Nandy is
the new shadow energy and climate secretary in Jeremy Corbyn’s
cabinet. “Nandy was elected as MP for Wigan in 2010 at the age of
30 and previously served as shadow minister for civil society in Ed
Miliband’s team…She is likely to face allegations from the
Conservative Party that Corbyn’s energy and climate policies would
push up consumer bills, as well as concerns amongst environmental
campaigners that the new Labour leader has previously voiced plans
to revive the UK coal mining industry.”

The snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains
probably shrank to the lowest in 500 years this year and climate
change may cause further declines, worsening water shortages in the
drought-stricken state, according to a study published in Nature
Climate Change. The snowpack in the mountain range this spring was
just 5% of the average in the second half of the 20th century. The
low was based on records of snowfall and temperatures inferred from
annual growth rings of blue oaks and other trees, meaning some
uncertainties about extremes in past centuries. The

An “investment hiatus” is putting at risk wind energy
projects in Scotland following a cut in subsidies by the UK
Government: “Research carried out for trade body Scottish
Renewables has confirmed the fears of green campaigners after it
found that investors who fund wind farms are less likely to lend
capital for new projects, after the Government move had a
‘significant impact on investor confidence’.” The

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)
has “given the clearest signal yet”, according to Telegraph’s
commodities editor, that it believes it is winning its oil price
war with the US shale industry. He says: “The group of 12 mainly
Middle Eastern producers has said that output from outside the
cartel in 2016 will be over 100,000 barrels per day lower than it
had previously predicted, as lower prices shut down more
production. In its closely-watched monthly market report, Opec
said: ‘There are signs that US production has started to respond to
reduced investment and activity. Indeed, all eyes are on how
quickly US production falls.'” Meanwhile,

Rich nations are “stubbornly divided”, according to Reuters,
ahead of talks in Paris on Thursday to seek a deal to phase out
coal subsidies “in a foretaste of the difficulty of agreeing on
action to curb global warming at a UN summit later this year”. The
OECD has been trying to broker a phase-out of coal export credits
for more than a year and holds new talks on Thursday. It has said
it wants an agreement this month, but EU sources say it might have
to arrange more talks and time is running out. “It’s a total
stand-off,” one source told Reuters.

The Independent reports that “one of Britain’s best known
climate sceptics, Lord Ridley, has teamed up with a prominent
environment campaigner to force fossil fuel companies to fast-track
a new technology to capture CO2 emissions from the air and pump
them underground”. It adds: “In a highly unusual show of unity
between opposing sides of the climate-change debate, Lord Ridley
and Baroness Worthington are pushing for a new law demanding that
oil, gas and coal producers greatly increase their efforts to
develop effective carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology,
after making little progress over the past decade.”

The frontpage of the Daily Express leads with this story
about how “British families are to see energy bills jump by as much
as 25% this week thanks to providers pulling some of the cheapest
plans from the market”. It adds: “As the colder weather starts to
set-in, British Gas, Scottish Power and First Utility customers on
select fixed-rate tariffs will see their deals come to an end,
according to a Gocompare.com…If predictions of the coldest winter
in 50 years prove correct, and energy usage is higher than previous
years, homes could find the bill hike proves even more of a
sting.”

California lawmakers approved a major statewide renewable
energy goal as their legislative session ground to a close last
week. Members approved a bill late on Friday night requiring the
state get 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. The
bill, which also sets energy efficiency standards for buildings,
passed the Assembly on a 52-27 vote and the Senate,
26-14.

Murray says that “Corbyn’s victory presents a big challenge
for green businesses and investors, as well as those political
centrists who want to build a low carbon economy”. The concern is
that an “overtly left wing climate strategy from Corbyn…simply
helps an underpowered climate strategy from the government somehow
look reasonable and credible”.

The veteran environmental journalist explains why he
supports the government’s scrapping of the planned Navitus Bay wind
farm off the Dorset coast: “Personally, while I strongly support
renewable energy as essential, I feel that the cancellation of
Navitus Bay was right, as it was simply in the wrong place. Its
forest of huge turbines would have industrialised one of the most
noble marine vistas in Britain and transformed a natural setting
into a man-made one.”

Scientists have examined the snowpack conditions in the
Sierra Nevada mountains, concluding that they present an “ominous
sign” of the severity of the drought across California. The 1 April
2015 snow water equivalent was at only 5% of its historical
average, the authors report in a letter to the journal Nature
Climate Change.